- Who
- Grand Canyon Skywalk
- What
- 250 metre(s)
- Where
- United States (Grand Canyon West)
- When
The highest cantilevered glass-bottomed skywalk in the world is the Grand Canyon Skywalk in Arizona, USA, opened on 28 March 2007, and with a direct vertical drop of up to 250 m. Located at Grand Canyon West on the Hualapai Indian Reservation, the structure consists of a 20-m-wide U-shaped and cantilevered glass-bottomed observation walkway, which juts out past the rim of the Grand Canyon. Originally conceived by Las Vegas businessman David Jin and realized by Lochsa Engineering, the Grand Canyon Skywalk took more than four years and $30 million to build. It contains 730,000 kg of material, including counterweights, mass dampers, glass railings, deck and steel structure. Visibility is provided by 46 custom-cut 1-ton glass panels on the cantilever floor, plus 1.57-m-high glass railings.
Strong enough to cope with 490-kg/m² live loads, the Grand Canyon Skywalk can withstand an 8.0-magnitude earthquake and 100-mph winds. It is capable of carrying 822 people, each weighing 91 kg, and its maximum occupancy is restricted to 120 people at any one time.
